Another general gunned down
A retired Brigadier-General was assassinated outside his house in Yangon on Thursday, while deputy junta chief Soe Win was in the commercial capital on an official visit.
According to urban guerilla group Golden Valley Warriors, which claimed responsibility for the assassination, Cho Tun Aung lectured on internal security and counterterrorism at the National Defense College in the administrative capital, Naypyitaw, where he taught military officers.
Cho Tun Aung previously served as Myanmar’s ambassador to Cambodia under Thein Sein’s administration and was later handed the title of Wunna Kyawhtin by junta boss Min Aung Hlaing.
Golden Valley Warriors said Cho Tun Aung was also a member of Myanmar’s War Veterans Organization and helped mobilize army-affiliated militias to fight resistance forces.
He is the latest of at least five retired military officers, including majors and brigadier-generals, assassinated in Yangon since the coup. The others are former Major Ye Khaing, security chief at Yangon International Airport; former Brig-Gen Ohn Thwin and his son-in-law, ex-Captain Ye Teza; and former Major Thein Aung, chief financial officer of the military-owned Mytel Telecom.
In response to Thursday’s assassination, the regime has ramped up vehicle checks and household inspections for overnight guests while putting military supporters on alert.
The funeral of the 68-year-old former Brig-Gen will be held at Mingalardon military hospital on Saturday, according to death notices published in junta-controlled newspapers. Meanwhile Golden Valley Warriors has warned it will continue to target military officers.
Dictatorship Dressed as Democracy
The junta boss offered a breathtaking distortion of history to defend his 2021 coup during a speech to naval and aviation trainees in Naypyitaw this week.
Referring to the 1988 pro-democracy uprising against Ne Win’s dictatorship, he said the military – which launched a deadly crackdown on protesters before seizing power – had played a noble role in ensuring a smooth transition to democracy.
The military did indeed promise a poll after quashing the pro-democracy uprising, and elections took place two years later in 1990. However, the generals refused to transfer power to the winning party, the National League for Democracy. Instead, they spent years designing the 2008 constitution to ensure the military retained its grip on power under the guise of civilian rule. The plan worked – but only until 2015, when the NLD won power by a landslide, repeating the triumph five years later.
The 2020 general elections were an ugly episode in Myanmar’s history, Min Aung Hlaing told the young trainees, repeating his allegations of voter fraud and accusing the NLD government of authoritarian practices ahead of the polls.
His justifications for the military takeover have been thoroughly debunked by both domestic and international election observers. Yet, in the parallel reality promoted by the junta chief, it is his military – not the democratically elected government he overthrew – that is laying the foundations for multi-party democracy in Myanmar.
Meanwhile, with its military dwindling in the face of armed uprising, the regime has resorted to mandatory conscription, forcing young people into its failing war machine. This has triggered a mass exodus of working-age individuals, with tens of thousands fleeing the country or going into hiding, leading to crippling labor shortages.
Junta Poll Predictions
Recently, the regime has repeatedly emphasized the importance of successfully holding elections in December and started discussing post-election matters—the latest move by an embattled regime seeking legitimacy.
At a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Min Aung Hlaing again insisted that power would be handed over to the winning party after the election, and emphasized constitutional provisions governing the establishment of a quorum needed to convene a parliament and form a government. His deputy Soe Win urged regional and state ministers to make the necessary preparations for the successful holding of the election and systematic power transfer, and to ensure security in areas where elections can be conducted. Read more
Myitsone Dam Resurfaces Amid Power Crisis
Having failed to resolve Myanmar’s worsening electricity crisis since the 2021 coup, junta boss Min Aung Hlaing on Tuesday blamed the suspension of the China-backed Myitsone hydro-dam project for the country’s deepening power outages.
The coup leader told a regime meeting that the Myitsone Dam could have generated 6,000 megawatts which, when combined with existing power plants, would have exceeded the country’s electricity demand.
In August 2023, the junta boss admitted his regime was unable to meet even 50 percent of electricity demand. He claimed there would be no power outages if suspended mega projects had been implemented – but failed to specify which projects. He named “the culprit” for the first time on Tuesday. Read more
Two Aircraft Downed by Kachin Resistance
Tuesday’s contested downing of two regime helicopters over Bhamo would bring the junta aircraft shot down by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in northern Shan and Kachin states to five since the 2021 coup.
On Tuesday, two of three helicopters sending reinforcements and supplies to the junta’s embattled 21st Military Operations Command (MOC) headquarters in Bhamo were hit. One of them crashed into the forest some 22 km from Shwegu, and another made an emergency landing near the town, KIA spokesman Colonel Naw Bu told The Irrawaddy. Read more
